blaze100

Help. My husband and I both work at the same college, so we have double coverage through our employer. Usually my bills are paid 100%. However, more and more they are altering the rules on how they calculate coordination of benefits. They just say they are not paying more than XXX dollars for a service outside my Preferred Provider list and it doesn't matter if we have double coverage or not. Is anyone out there an expert on how double coverage benefits for employer based health insurance is legally calculated? I really would appreciate any info on this. Barb

Prayers for your Mom. Prayers for good results. Barb

Good one. Barb

Congratulations Debi on 4 years out. Yeeeeeaaaaah! A new house next year is terrific idea for year 5. Keep'm coming. Barb

Prayers for Len and Maryjo. Prayers for Connie B too! It is scary stuff. I hope you perk backup to your old self soon Connie. Barb

Yeah! This is excellent progress. Keep up on chalk'n up those good reports Mike. Barb

Thanks for validating my feelings about second hand smoke. I know it is touchy subject here. Before LC, I had no problem with smoke. It was part of the Midwest's social structure like drinking. I thought people who made a fuss over smoke were wacko alarmists. This is probably why my exposure was so high. But now I equate second hand smoke with LC and both scare me. California has smoking laws although not everyone complies. Barb

Everywhere I go there are smokers. I try to dodge around them but it is impossible. They stand in the doorways, they smoke walking down the sidewalks, they hang it out the car windows at the stop lights. I hate it. Last week my own brother lights up directly upwind from me at a picnic. So I get up and walk away and guess what - he follows me. I walk further away. He follows me again. Finally I turned and said "I've already had lc once, I don't want it again" and he mutters a cuss word or two and tosses the lit butt about 10 feet away. I am absolutely convinced I got my lc from extremely high exposure to secondhand smoke. Now I hate being around it. Is there something wrong with me? Does anyone else have this problem? Barb

Hi Gail10, I don't remember having a cough after surgery but I think they do CT just to check things out AND to get a baseline established to compare to future scans. They start ordering the ctscans about every three months for first year or so. Have you seen chemo onc yet? Prayers for good CT results. And don't forget to take your xanex. Barb

Hi hrtofgold, The best thing my husband did for me was to go along to the doctor visits and take careful note of everything the doctors said - I don't know how he did it, but he memorized what they said almost word for word. So if I got down or depressed about treatment etc, then hubby would ask me exactly what was wrong. Whatever I said, he was able to counter with "Yes but remember what Dr X told you about this...." He used the doctor's exact words to help me remember. It got to be a routine everytime I got short of breath or tired out. And it helped. I hope your boyfriend's treatments go well. Barb

Randy, my hubby really enjoyed number 11. Barb

I agree with Don - your dad needs to stabilize first. Low sodium is serious. Did they say what caused it? You are lucky they diagnosed the low sodium as it is not common. My mom had low sodium and she almost died before ER figured out her problem was low sodium. Barb

I had surgery followed by concurrent chemo and radiation. Still here 6.5 years later. But last year had some problems with the old ticker -most likely due to radiation too close to heart. Also I think there is increase risk of new cancer in radiation field years later. Barb

Hi preciouslife, I am sorry this is happening to your mom. I know it is very scary for your family and especially for your mom. My doc accidentally checked off chest x-ray on my pre- hysterectomy lab work. My tumor was huge. Came as a Total shock for someone who never smoked. NSCLC adenocarcinoma comes in different varieties I think. If it is bronchoalveolar it could be very slow growing. Did you see a copy of the biopsy report? Where there is life, there is always hope. Plus your mom had no symptoms which is a good sign. Sounds like she is very strong too, another positive in her favor as it will allow her to take aggressive treatment. Prayers, Barb

Me too. I went from family doc to pulmonologist for bronchoscopy to surgeon for bilobectomy and then to onc for mop-up. I think this is the order if they think they can remove tumor. I wonder if they should have tried to reduce my tumor size before surgery - but I'm still here soooo can't complain. Barb

Yes I had CT's every three months for first few years, but chest x-rays too. My surgeon (who is older doctor) said chest x-rays give him better feeling for "big picture". I am always amazed how much he can see from a chest x-ray. Barb

Hi Nova, I had carboplatin and they gave me Kytril (very spendy stuff) with instructions to also take every night ativan, reglan, xanex and something else - mylar? One of them could be dissolved under the tongue for faster relief. Hope he feels better soon. Barb

I think this is great idea - no if only I can get my chemo brain to remember to log on. Barb

HI Gail, so far so good. I had tiny margin and big tumor. Nodes were OK. So I did radiation and chemo even though surgeon said he thought he got it all - the small margin was too scary. As far as the chemo goes, I decided if I passed on treatment and LC came back then I would never forgive myself. So I did chemo. Now 6.5 years later my heart has been slightly damaged from the treatments, but lc has not returned. It is tough decision, especially with your heart situation. Have you discussed chemo with heart docs? Barb

Yes, concurrent radiation and chemo is tougher than separate treatment. Also, what type of lc does she have? Barb

Welcome Lady Salt, Sounds like the hubby is very lucky and very strong person. Hopefully the worst is behind you. Prayers for you and your hubby, Barb

Hi Heather, Great news. Soon you'll be out and free to roam. The younger you are, the faster you heal - so hopefully you will be out and back to your old self soon. Barb

Very cute. Thank you Eastcoastladi. Barb

My fav book is still "Snapshots of Heaven" by Joyce Vollmer Brown. It is nothing more than a series of observations/consequences from what the Bible promises us. I found it very reassuring - we are all going to die - I read it almost every night during treatment. It helps reduce the fear and sadness when we dream about what Heaven will be like. Barb

Hi Ernie, Do you have a tasty recipe that uses flax seed or ground flax seed? Barb